Lorenzo Swensen (1887-1955) and Beatrice Eloise Wride (1893-1979)

Incoming Correspondence, 1942

Paul to Folks, 1942 Feb 20

February 20, 1942

Dear Folks,

I suppose I am just a little bit tardy in answering this letter. I mean your letter, but we have been busy and I find it hard to find the time to sit down and get started. It isn’t that we are working all of the time but just that I don’t take the time.

It was nice, as usual, to hear from you again and to get all of the news about everything and everybody. The paper is appreciated but it certainly doesn’t have very much news in it. We get the Sat. Deseret News so we keep up with some of the social news and also Li’l Abner. They send it for nothing so it is appreciated. We also get the Era, the Liahona which is published for all the missionaries in the U.S. and then the mission puts out a very nice little paper every month with all the mission news in it. It rather helps us to keep in contact with the other missionaries.

Do you all still like going to school on Saturdays, or did you ever? They haven’t started that out here yet and as far as I know they haven’t even considered it as yet. I’d imagine I would like it a lot more that way as that extra three weeks of work would come in mighty handy. Will you get in on this defence training if they have it. I have been wondering just how long it would be before they started something like that out there. They have started radio training here. I’d have liked to take the course but it would take 9 hours a week and I couldn’t see just how I could afford so I forgot it just as soon as I thought of it.

We Registered down in Elmira and I don’t know how things will go. I’d appreciate if you would see if my card has been sent out there yet. I’m not sure that they knew what they were doing and I want to make sure that it is sent out there. There wasn’t anything to it except telling them where you were born and how old and where you live, taking about 10 minutes, 9 of which were spent in trying to tell them what was what.

I appreciate that little ‘remark’ about Marie, and I think I know just what was meant by it.

That itemized list of expenditures you sent doesn’t look too good, does it? It almost looks like it is too expensive to even be alive, and far too expensive to enjoy it very much, although I can’t complain about not enjoying it because I love every minute of it. I’ve managed to keep things straight so far but I don’t know for how long. I just get going good and get a little bit ahead and then the D.P. calls a meeting and there goes all of my reserve. We share expenses, and it costs some of them a lot of money for travel. It costs over $30.00 just in transportation for a missionary meeting and then we have to buy our meals. I also bought a bood of violin duets and that helped out a lot.

The M.O. came O.K. As far as I can see there is no advantage in semi-monthly sending of the ‘dough’, so if you wish it will be O.K. with me if it all comes at once. We have been living as cheaply as any one in the district but I think we can cut things down quite a bit, and I will do my best to do it. I’ll wait for your reactions of the camera ‘deal’ before commiting myself any more but I won’t shed tears no matter what the decision.

I am still well supplied in shoes, socks, shirts, ties, etc. but that old blue suit isn’t much good. My shoulders have broadened out several inches since it was purchased. so it doesn’t fit so well and moving the buttons won’t help it very much. Thepants are very thin and they don’t look so good. I wear my brown one most of the time though. If I change my ties and shirts often enough it looks like I have a little variets. I also wear the blue pants with the coat and that gives another change.

Despite the cold, Elder Fish finally decided that it might help the records out a little if we did a little tracting, the first for a long time. It has been cold and stormy but we have had good luck. We have met several interested people and have two cottage meetings for tonight and tomorrow and we had one last night so it does bring results if we get out and do it. I still doesn’t like it and I like it more all of the time.

For some reason I’ve run out of something to say which is a sad state of affairs to be in so I’ll close for now.

Love and stuff

Paul